Judaeo-Spanish and the Sephardis in the United States

Date: 

Monday, April 22, 2019, 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Location: 

RCC Conference Room, 26 Trowbridge St., Cambridge MA.

This presentation analyzes a broad list of important questions regarding the Sephardic Spanish language, also known as the Judaeo-Spanish language or Ladino, in the United States. We will cover the sociohistorical context of the arrival of the Sephardic Jews to the United States, the characteristics of the Judaeo-Spanish language there, the reasons why the language is at risk of extinction, and why the revitalization of the language and culture is so important.

Andres Enrique Arias was born in Leon in 1965, but shortly afterwards, he and his family moved to Burgos. He received his bachelor's degree in Spanish Philology at the University of Valladolid, and later his Doctorate in Linguistics at the University of Southern California. Now, he is a Professor at the University of the Balearic Islands. He has written close to one hundred publications about the historical aspects of the Spanish language. In particular, he has studied the Bible translations from Latin into Castilian Spanish in the Medieval era as well as the mutual influence that Castilian and Catalan have had on each other in Mallorca. He has researched and taught at Universities in The United States, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Korea. In addition to his academic accomplishments, he is also very fond of jazz music and film. He plays the double bass for several groups and has released a short documentary about the Sephardics of Los Angeles.

Speaker: Andres Enrique Arias, Professor at the University of the Balearic Islands.

Sponsors: RCC; Asociación Cultural Española, Boston.